


love in my arms and the sun in my eyes

by makeapointofhavingfun



Category: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 14:32:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7688101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makeapointofhavingfun/pseuds/makeapointofhavingfun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>small dumb thing about lila having feelings. when is this set? no one knows</p>
            </blockquote>





	love in my arms and the sun in my eyes

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't edit this lol

Lila woke up disoriented, with no idea where she was or how she got there.

The bed was too soft to be hers, the floor was too steady to be the Night Spire, the room was too warm to be whatever shitty, over-crowded inn she was staying in this time. She stayed absolutely still and looked around her, trying to gauge her location through the soft red light poking through the window. Not dawn, but the steady glow of the river. She was in London, at least.

She could hear the distant sounds of the Night Market, of people drinking and fighting and laughing, but that was audible anywhere in the city and did little to help her now. It was only a moment later, when she finally picked up the faint sound of another person’s breathing did she remember where she was.

Oh.

Shit.

Lila immediately panicked.

The floor was steady because she was on land. The room was warm because it was in a palace. The bed was soft because it belonged to royalty.

Well, sort of. It belonged to Kell.

Kell who currently slept on the other side of this ridiculously soft, uselessly large bed, whose forehead was touching the middle of her (bare) back, whose breath slid over her skin so lightly and whose hand sat almost cautiously on her hip. Kell who had gasped her name so softly in the dark of his room only hours before. Lila had no idea what to do.

So she decided to do the only thing she knew how to: run.

She carefully lifted his hand away from her hip and slid slowly onto the hardwood floor. It took about five minutes of searching to find her jacket and pants in the sprawling mess that was Kell’s chambers, three more minutes to find her boots, two minutes to get dressed, and the whole ten minutes together to remember that Kell probably has guards outside his room. She peaked out of the crack between the doorframe and the door and was relieved to find the hallway empty.

“That was inexplicably convenient,” Lila murmured to herself as she slipped outside. She moved as silently as she could down the echoey hall, wondering how the hell she was going to get out of the palace without being spotted. She really didn’t think this through. 

The sound of footsteps startled her out of her worrying. She whirled around to see her pursuer, only to find Alucard Emery wandering casually in her direction.

“Captain,” she said, unable to think of anything else to say.

“Bard,” he replied pleasantly. He narrowed his eyes at her. “Now what are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

Lila tucked her hair behind her ear and tried desperately not to fidget.

“Nothing,” she said, aiming for nonchalance and just missing. Alucard raised an eyebrow impressively.

“That’s awfully suspicious,” he said. He slowed his walking for a moment. “You weren’t…”

Lila cursed her one damn eye for being a filthy traitor as she felt it glance just slightly toward Kell’s door. Alucard followed her gaze. He smiled a little.

“Well done, Bard. That’s a feat I think few have accomplished.”

Lila felt anything but accomplished right then. What she felt was wavering somewhere closer to nausea than pride. 

“Ah, but here you are, sneaking away in the dead of night. Why might that be?” he asked. She couldn’t tell if he was trying to be reprimanding or comforting. Maybe both. She didn’t answer.

“This is turning into a bit of a one sided conversation, Bard, I’d really appreciate it if you contributed.” He had stopped walking and now stood directly in front of Lila, trying to get her to look him in the eye and not having much success.

“What, was he that bad?” 

Lila felt her whole face go hot. She huffed. 

“No,” she said finally, still not making eye contact with Alucard.

“Then why run away?” he asked. This time he was very quiet and very close and far less teasing than before.

Lila didn’t know how to answer him. Why was she running away? What was it about lying in a comfortable bed in a warm room with a person she liked that made her panic? She folded her arms over her stomach. She didn’t speak at first, but Alucard nudged her shoulder and made a little prompting “hmm?” sound and she forced herself to inhale.

“I just…” she started. She stopped for a moment. “I guess I’ve never… slept with anyone who expected me to be there the next day? Who might want anything… more? I’ve never been with anyone who I liked well enough for it to be an issue.”

It wasn’t like she regretted her few casual escapades. They had been rare bout of fun, just another reckless bit of excitement to keep her going. Whatever she had with Kell was an entirely different creature.

“So, as usual, you’re terrified of emotional commitment and genuine affection,” he said matter-of-factly.

She glared at him and he returned the look with a smile far kinder than she expected.

“What I would suggest, my lovely thief, is that you go back in there and go back to sleep, and in the morning give this whole ‘meaningful relationships’ thing a try.”

Lila made another face. Alucard sighed.

“Look, as far as I can tell, our young Master Kell is quite fond of you, more than he is of most people. And it seems like you might actually reciprocate some of that fondness and you might regret it later if you leave now.”

Lila looked back at the door and sighed.

“Bard, you took out a whole pirate ship entirely by yourself. You can handle one conversation about emotions.”

She gave him a look that told him she wasn’t so sure about that. He gave her look that told her to shut up and do it anyway.

“See you later, Captain,” she said wearily. 

“Good luck, Bard,” he replied cheerily.

She took a few steps towards Kell’s room and then stopped.

“Wait, Captain,” she said, turning on her heel to face him.

“Yes?”

“Why are you here in the middle of the night?”

“I feel like you can figure that one out.”

Lila grimaced and nodded.

“Goobye, Captain.”

“Goodnight, Bard.”

 

Lila stepped lightly across the floor, taking absolute care not to wake Kell. She slipped off her boots and placed them on the floor, then dropped her jacket onto what she was pretty sure was a chair. She put her pants on top of the jacket and started to fold her shirt, but decided it was probably fine if she left it and her underthings on the floor. It was where they had been in the first place. She returned to the stupidly soft bed.

“…Lila?” whispered Kell. Something about the drowsiness in his voice made her chest constrict painfully.

“Yeah,” she replied. She stared at him with wide eyes, fear swelling inside her. She didn’t know what, exactly, she was afraid of, but she was full of tense energy and couldn’t find it in herself to breathe normally.

But all he did was mumble something unintelligible and shift closer. His arm went around her waist and his nose brushed her collarbone. He exhaled heavily and began to drift back to sleep.

Lila put an arm around his shoulder, tucked her chin around his head and forced herself to relax.

 

 

Kell awoke with the dawn, which was surprising, but not nearly as surprising as the fact that Lila was lying next to him. 

He stared at her for a moment, wondering at his luck. For once in his life Delilah Bard didn’t run away.

Her brows furrowed and her eyes opened, squinting at him before seeming to figure out where she was. She blinked a few times before opening her eyes all the way, her brow going smooth.

“Hello,” she said, sounding shy and surprised in a way that was very un-Lila.

“Good morning,” replied Kell. He supposed this was a very un-Lila situation. 

The pair stared at each other for a rather uncomfortably long time, neither entirely sure what came next. A smile started to tug on Lila’s mouth, something not quite as dangerous as her usual knife-sharp grin but just as exhilarating and infinitely more contagious. He soon felt his own face being pulled up just through proximity and heard Lila’s smile turn into a laugh. He followed suit yet again. She leaned over and grabbed his face, pulling him into a rough kiss.

“What were you laughing at?” he asked slightly breathlessly once she had pulled away.

“Nothing,” she said. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “This. I don’t know.”

He gave her a look. She shrugged it off. He let his eyes fall closed and they lay in more comfortable silence for a few sleepy minutes.

“I’m glad you stayed,” he said quietly into her sternum. She exhaled heavily.

“I’m glad I did too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading please talk to me about delilah bard I'm in love with her
> 
> title from technicolour beat by oh wonder


End file.
